Combat
is 90% mental and only 10% physical when people experience a
threat one of two things happen to them. They either experience the
“flight/freeze response” (I place the freeze response into the flight category
to simplify things) or they experience the “fight response”. Most people forget
this vital concept when it comes to personal protection.
People usually focus on practicing physical techniques
and fail to realize that if you cannot control your thoughts flight (fear) will
set in and you will freeze up and not be able to do anything to protect
yourself. It’s just like what a deer does when it see’s a car’s headlights
coming straight for it, it just stands there looking at the vehicle headlights
and bam it gets hit by the vehicle. This is exactly what you will experience
when you are experiencing a threat if you don’t train your mind to go into the
“fight response”.
“Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out.”
Karl
A. Menninger
We as humans are born with only two fears the first is
the fear of loud noises (startle reflex) and the second is the fear of falling
(avoidance reaction) every other fear is learned, so we can reprogram our
brains to not be afraid of violence, pain or of being hit or struck.
Understanding fear, adrenaline and the effects it has
on you physically, mentally and emotionally will put you in a better position
to understanding and controlling fear.
There are two types of fear:
1) Recreational Fear: This has an element of control such as a mixed
martial arts match due to the fact that there are rules to abide by and there
is a referee in the cage. The athletes/fighter's know that the violence is
controlled due to these factors and that they will not be seriously injured.
2) Fear: This occurs when things are out
of your control such as a violent street attack which could end in death. You
can control your fear of a violent altercation by being tactically prepared
(physical, psychological and emotional training builds confidence).
Adrenaline Symptoms During & After Violence
(Autonomic Nervous System)
Physical:
Upset
stomach: butterflies/nausea
Increased blood
pressure
Increased
perspiration
Sweaty
palms or sweaty
Bowel/Bladder
Urgency: Defecating or urinating oneself, everyone hates admitting to this but
it is very common with the manliest men
Diarrhea
Chills
Chest pain
Tremors/shakes
Muscle
tightness
Dizziness
Thirty
Jumpiness
Hyperventilation
Dry
mouth/throat: Cotton mouth
Fatigue
Restlessness
Visual/audio
changes: Sometimes these changes are beneficial such as having visual
enhancement and being able to see the bullets in the cylinder of a revolver. Sometimes
it can be detrimental to the person such as tunnel vision which excludes your
peripheral vision making you more vulnerable to an ambush because you ca
not see the stimuli coming around you.
Outer Body
Experience: This is when you feel like your watching the violence you are
experiencing from outside your body.
Increased
Heart Rate: Beats per minute (bpm)
60-80 bpm
(code white) normal resting heart rate
80-115 bpm
(code yellow) alert to your surroundings.
115-145
bpm (code red) optimal survival and combat performance level for complex motor
skill, visual reaction time, and cognitive reaction time
145-175
bpm (code grey) complex or fine motor skill deteriorates, loss of depth
perception, auditory exclusion
Note: Using
gross motor skills is paramount when performing street survival tactics. If you
are focusing on fine motor skill tactics you better be training long and hard
as a Navy Seal and most people do not have the time or dedication to train this
way.
175-220
bpm (code black) loss of near vision (tunnel vision), reduced bleeding from
wounds, flight/freeze response, submissive behavior, bladder /bowels loosen
Mental:
Concentration
problems: After the violence the person may not remember what even happened
during the violent altercation due to memory loss, this usually comes back a
couple of days later.
Memory
distortion: This is when you think you see a loved one get hit, shot or stabbed
but in reality they were not even touched.
Word
finding problems
Dazed
Time
Delay: Everything happens in slow motion, you see the bullet coming straight
for you just like you were in a Matrix movie. This can also be confused with
"freezing" because paralysis sometimes takes over your body such as
not being able to feel like you can move your legs. Instead this is just time
delay you are experiencing because you are moving your legs very slowly.
Emotional:
Decreased
emotional control
Playing
the event over and over in your mind
Second
guessing yourself
Irritable
Anxious
Scared
Numb
Overwhelmed
Happy you
survived
Note: It
usually takes three or four days for the body to get to normal after
experiencing a major adrenaline dump.
"The key is to understand and manage arousal, not
attempt to prevent or eradicate it."
Michael J. Asken,
Ph.D
Do not get
down on yourself for feeling this way instead accept the fact that you will
feel fear and these sensations for fear is actually your friend because it
prepares you for combat. The majority of law enforcement, military
personnel & security professionals experience these signs of stress
when confronted with violence. Remember you want to control and manage your
fear by understanding it. Your job is not to try to be fearless or fear will
control you.
To find out more visit http://tactselfdefense.com/fearmanagement/
